Wrist watch strap construction



Feb. 20, 1940. w. A. DAVIS 2,191,314

I wrusw. WATCH STRAP CONSTRUCTION Filed June 7 19:57

Patented Feb. 20, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Willard A. Davis, Providence, S. & B. Lederer Company,

Rhode Island R. 1., assignor to a corporation of Application June 7, 1937, Serial No. 146,702

2 Claims.

My present invention relates to the jewelry art, and has particular reference to a novel construction for bracelets and wrist watch straps.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a strap having a small number of parts, which may be readily manufactured at a low cost.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a strap having its parts resilient to engage the wrist for retaining the strap thereon.

It is an additional object of my invention to provide a strap having firm support for the wrist watch.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the novel strap;

Fig. 2 is an extended view thereof, parts being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view of the assembled wire support;

Fig. 5 is a view of the shaped wire prior to assembly; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing a modified construction.

Referring to the drawing, the wrist watch strap 10 includes a novel support H, see Fig. 5, which is formed of a single piece of resilient wire l2, initially bent into an elongated generally eliptical shape; a plate I3 is preferably stamped of sheet metal and its edges M are turned over the center parts of the wire, as disclosed in Fig. 4, to securely lock the free ends of the wire l2 together, and to serve as a support for the wrist watch, as hereinafter explained. A covering ii of leather or other flexible material, see Fig. 2, is then sewed around the assembled wire support II to form a sheath, and retaining ears I6, which are preferably of leather, but may be of metal, are secured to the upper portion of the sheath, for receiving the balls of a wrist watch. The ends l1, 18 of the strap are then bent into an arcuate form as disclosed in Fig. 1, thus completing the construction of the novel wrist watch strap.

The above described construction has many advantages over other types of wrist watch straps, as the parts required for manufacture comprise a simple wire form and a sheet metal plate which are assembled together to form a support, thus eliminating any need for solder or other joining construction, the parts then being covered by leather or the like, which is sewed around the assembled support and is provided with suitable means for the mounting of a wrist watch. The entire manufacturing procedure is thus very simple in nature, and the cost of manufacture is extremely low; the completed wrist watch strap is resilient, because of the wire form H, whereby ithugs the wrist, the ends I! and iii are readily separable to permit removal of the strap from the wrist and mounting of the strap thereon, and the plate l3, which is embedded in the leather sheath, serves as a very firm support for the wrist watch, and as a spacer element to prevent the sides of the wire from moving inwardly towards each other, wherefore no additional sewing or other means is required for maintaining the wire form in its proper position within the sheath.

Although the above described construction is preferred, it may be advisable, for certain uses, to provide a positive closure for the ends of the wrist watch strap. A wrist watch strap such as indicated at I9 in Fig. 6 may therefore be utilized, in which the ends of the sheath are respectively extended to provide a tongue 20 at one end having openings 2 I, and a buckle end 22 at the other end having a buckle 23 mounted thereon in the usual manner and provided with a buckle pin 24, whereby the strap ends may be buckled together. The construction of the wire support, and the mounting therein in its sheath, are similar to the construction previously described.

While I have described specific constructional embodiments of my invention, it is obvious that changes in the shape, size, and material of the parts and in the manner of assembly of the parts, may be made to suit the requirements for different wrist watch strap or bracelet designs, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A wrist watch strap comprising a one piece elongated wire frame having its free ends in contiguous relation adjacent the center thereof, a metallic support plate having its edges rolled to engage the sides of the wire frame and to lock said free ends, and a covering of flexible material for said frame and said plate.

2. A wrist watch strap of generally circular form comprising a one-piece elongated wire frame having its free ends in contiguous relaflexible material being extended beyond the frame to form an integral strap closure tongue, the

other end of said flexible material having a buckle.

WEI-ARI) A. DAVIS. 

